Broadway star Laura Osnes is explaining why she didn’t participate in a theater production that required performers to show proof of vaccination after it was previously reported that she was fired over her refusal to get vaccinated.
About a month ago, Osnes received news that she would need to be vaccinated in order to carry on as a performer for the one-night benefit performance of “Crazy for You.”
“I was disappointed but responded that I would have to withdraw,” Osnes wrote in a Tuesday Instagram post explaining that she has not been vaccinated against COVID-19.
“It’s important to note that none of my fellow performers ever ‘pressed me on the matter,'” she added, referencing a previous Page Six article that broke the news of her exit from the show.
She claimed taking a COVID-19 test to prove her negative status wasn’t presented to her as an option, leaving her no choice but to withdraw from the performance.
Osnes defended her decision to not get the vaccine, writing, “I believe individuals have the right to do the research, consult a doctor, and come to their own conclusions before deciding whether or not to get any injections.”
She added, “I stand by the decision my husband [photographer Nathan Johnson] and I, with input from our physician, have made for ourselves, our family planning, and our future. This is so much that is still unknown.”
Josh Gladstone, the artistic director at Guild Hall in East Hampton on Long Island, where the performance will be held, told Page Six they’re “sorry not to have Laura” as a cast member but that they “will look forward to working with Laura again.”